Call and Answer
by jo-chan
Summary: A silent cry for affection is heard and Tohru makes her choice. YukixTohru. Please read and review my story. This is definitely worth your time.


Call and Answer

Jo-chan

Disclaimers: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki. I am only borrowing the characters for a few pages or so because I love them so much. ^_~

Author's Notes: I'm sticking to the anime color of Yuki and Tohru's eyes. I fell in love with Yuki's purple eyes long before I learned to love his silver-gray eyes. Same goes for Tohru. I love her blue eyes as much as I love her manga-brown eyes. I dedicate my first Furuba fan fiction to Yuki and Tohru. They inspire me. Please read and review, I hope to either make a sequel or write another one like this. 

*********

Tohru paused in front of the bathroom mirror, her face dripping wet after washing it. Her large blue eyes, always so expressive, widened and then narrowed in concern at the sound of persistent coughing coming from Yuki's room. 

                "I better check up on Yuki-kun... it might be another one of his attacks," Tohru said aloud as she quickly buttoned her pajama top.

                She went out of the bathroom, her bare feet silent in the almost-empty house. Shigure was staying over at the publishing office to take care of his newest novel which will be released in two weeks time. A sweat-drop appeared on Tohru's head as she thought of Shigure's book, 'Love's Pleasure-Pain'. 

Hatori called Shigure a perverted dog when Shigure first announced his book's title and it was only lately that Tohru is starting to understand the implications and innuendoes Shigure always used to drop that made Yuki and Kyou mad.

                Thinking of Kyou, Tohru smiled. // I hope Kyou-kun will finally call Shishou-san Otou-san // thought Tohru as she recalled Kyou planning a special birthday gift for his father. Kyou is with Souma Kazuma and is staying over at his dojo for a week or so. 

                Yuki coughed loudly inside his room again, drawing Tohru's attention. 

// Oh my desu! It's my first night alone with Yuki-kun and he's sick! // fretted Tohru as she went inside the kitchen to prepare something special for Yuki. 

*********

                Souma Yuki was dreaming-- a dream that was beautiful if not quite disturbing. 

                Images of Tohru flashed like a montage in his dream: Tohru smiling, Tohru cooking, Tohru cleaning, Tohru studying, Tohru with her silly, slant-eyed expression... but there was a particular image of Tohru that kept running in his dream.

                It was the time Tohru helped him set up a cover to protect his garden from the sudden rain. 

Her dark blue uniform was soaking wet and clung appealingly to her still blossoming figure. The strong wind blew the short skirt up, revealing slim white thighs and slender legs. Tohru's long brown hair was damp and yet it flew freely as the wind caressed it. A wet strand got stuck to a softly rounded cheek and the end was caught between her pink lips. 

                Yuki felt like protesting even in his sleep. He simply didn't want to think of Tohru that way! For surely it was offensive that a strange creature such as he would DESIRE after an angel like Honda Tohru.

                He coughed again in his sleep, protesting to his dream but Yuki never realized that he was also coughing in real life. He just wanted to-- to what? 

                Dream of Tohru in a strictly proper manner? To rejoice in her kindness and not in her breathtaking beauty? To just care for her as a friend and not love her as a man should? 

                The dream slowly began to fade, leaving only the lingering traces of the feelings and memories it evoked. 

                A soft voice and a familiar scent reached for him, taking him out of his dream-filled slumber. The fragrance... yes, the scent of strawberries. 

                Tohru is nearby and she's trying to wake him up.

**********

                "Yuki-kun, Yuki-kun," murmured Tohru over and over again softly, her voice tinged with deep concern as she rubbed his right shoulder. 

                Yuki was coughing and turning restlessly in his sleep by the time she entered his room. She had carefully placed her hand against his forehead, checking for fever and said a brief prayer of thanks upon finding none. She proceeded to wake him up gently, keeping her hand on his shoulder as she sat down on his bed, leaning over him as she waited for him to open his eyes.

                Slowly, Yuki's ragged breathing evened out and his eyelashes fluttered open, revealing his enigmatic and still slightly blurry purple eyes. 

                Tohru's breath got caught in her throat as she stared at the amusingly disheveled Yuki who slowly sat up, shaking his head full of messy silver hair to wake himself up. In Tohru's captivated eyes, Yuki was every bit, the Prince everyone called him to be. He looked so breathtakingly handsome to her especially now that he appears so vulnerable and unguarded. Tohru can feel her heart melting in the almost childlike expression in Yuki's sleepy eyes. 

                "Huh? Is there a problem Honda-san?" asked Yuki, covering his mouth slightly as he yawned, blinking his cap-shaped purple eyes with sleep bubbles still hovering atop his head. 

                "E--eto, I heard you coughing and I got worried about you. Kore (Here), I brought you some medicine, water and snacks if you got hungry," said Tohru brightly as she placed a tray full of goodies in front of Yuki. 

                Yuki looked down, touched by Tohru's sweet gesture. He suddenly thought of Kyou and realized that Tohru could have easily done it for him because she would have done the same for Kyou. Yuki looked away, his bangs concealing his eyes as he automatically said, "Arigato..." 

                Despite her innate naivete, Tohru sensed the sudden depression in Yuki's demeanor. Anxious, she leaned towards Yuki quickly, so close that their bangs are almost touching as she asked worriedly, "Doushita no (What's wrong) Yuki-kun?"

                Speechless at her closeness, Yuki can only stare into Tohru's deep blue eyes and shake his head. The slight movement sent his face closer to hers. Yuki's purple eyes darkened imperceptibly as his gaze got drawn towards Tohru's lips.

                "Yuki-kun...." whispered Tohru, shaken by the unfathomable expression in Yuki's eyes. She has never seen that look of intensity on Yuki's face and it made her heart start pounding, with every beat roaring in her ears. 

                Yuki suddenly noticed the wide-eyed expression in Tohru's face-- he immediately mistook her surprise as fear. He drew away, releasing a silent sigh. "Gomen ne (I'm sorry) Honda-san," apologized Yuki his eyes softening into the same expression of affection he always showed her. 

                "Nani (What)?" asked Tohru dazedly as she belatedly realized that Yuki's defensive walls were being pulled up again. His facial expression awhile ago was so intense and his eyes spoke so many things and conveyed so much emotion that the facial expression he was showing her now seemed like a partial mask of half-hidden truths. 

                Disappointment and frustration flooded through Tohru. Instinctively, she knew that she and Yuki had stood on the precipice of something wonderful before he withdrew. 

                Not understanding her actions but feeling only the need to do so, she leaned close once again and placed a hand on Yuki's right cheek, turning him to face her. She blushed but doggedly pushed on. "Ano... you don't have to apologize... what I would like to hear you say is if you call me by my name," said Tohru, smiling at the startled expression on Yuki's face. 

                "Honda-san..." said Yuki almost reverently, his eyes closing briefly at the heavenly feel of Tohru's touch. He ached to hold her in his arms but he knew he'd transform the minute she hugged him back. 

                There was something in Yuki's eyes, an emotion that made words seem unnecessary and inadequate. She gazed back into his eyes helplessly, desperate, willing a change. 

                A change of what? Their relationship? Isn't friendship enough? The comfortable and safe feeling of being a family? 

                No. Somehow she knew, friendship isn't enough and will never be enough to contain the magic between their souls. Following the urgings of her heart, Tohru's eyes drifted close as she lifted her face up slightly. She was offering herself to someone who has always kept his emotions hidden. It was an unspoken offer of taking one step towards an unknown future-- a future for both of them. 

                By giving, by sharing, by offering, by opening, Tohru can only hope that the walls Yuki built around his heart will crumble and that he learn to open up himself and share his true feelings. 

                "Honda-san," whispered Yuki reverently as he gazed down at Tohru's upturned face. He reached out hesitantly, gently cupping Tohru's cheek as she nestled her face against his palm. Her face felt so soft and warm in his rough and callused palms. 

                "We've come too far for you to be still calling me Classmate Honda," teased Tohru as she opened her eyes briefly to look at Yuki. Their eyes locked together and shakily, Tohru whispered, "Say my name... Yuki..." Tohru understood Yuki's inner feelings without even hearing him say it. Somehow, the last barrier between them is her name, a formality he has always used even in the intimacy of their friendship. 

                Yuki's eyes widened and then glittered with emotion as he realized the implication of Tohru's words. All his life, he'd avoided intimacy. Fearing rejection and pain, he hid behind walls of formality and silence. He kept all his emotions inside himself until the day Tohru came into his life and he learned to share his feelings little by little. 

                And yet, by calling Tohru by her first name... it would reveal the feelings he's always felt for her. It would indicate that she meant more to him than his family and that he cared for her above any other person. It was scary... but his instinctive faith in her and his own need to be close to her called out to him from the abyss of loneliness he lived in and he was falling... he knew he would answer her call, the way she has always answered his every prayer.

                Slowly Yuki lowered his head, his lips only a few inches away from Tohru's mouth that their breaths touched and mingled sweetly. Yuki paused, both his hands framing Tohru's face as he smiled gently and whispered softly, "Tohru... koi (love)..." 

                Tohru's eyes flew open but Yuki leaned close, bringing her face up again and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. It was more than just a kiss-- it was a confession, it was a promise... it was... everything. 

                A few tears escaped from Tohru's closed eyes but she kissed Yuki back, her heart aching with so much love. His lips were warm and sensually soft in his tenderness. The magic of their love washed over old pains and remembered hurts until it ceased to exist.

                Panting lightly, Tohru pulled back a bit, caressing the planes and angles of Yuki's face with a loving hand. "You know... my mom used to say... ask and you will be given, give and you shall receive, fall and you will be cradled..." whispered Tohru as tears filled her eyes and she paused. 

                Yuki met Tohru's awe-filled eyes and knew that his own eyes reflected the same wonder. 

                "Call and I will surely answer..." finished Tohru with a smile. 

OWARI *~*~*


End file.
